Does anyone ever feel like the stereotypical fat American?

That chart is right on. I have always thought just 10more pounds and I'll be healthier. According to weightwatchers, it should be more like 20. That would be great for clothes, but nearly impossible for me. I've been there, but only after a serious eating problem. Never again. Until then, I'll eat healthfully 75% of the time and workout, but I'm not going to give up all the pleasures of life.

I'm doing a lot of shopping here before moving to the UK this summer, so I can hopefully avoid this problem.

It depends on how you define fat. There's a difference between morbidly obese and "she'd be a bit healthier if she lost a few pounds."

Well, I for one would never look at a person and go 'she'd be a bit healthier if she lost a few pounds'.   Nor would I look at a person and go 'she's morbidly obese'.  I personally feel there are better things to judge my fellow women on-such as kindness, and generosity and intelligence. 
So maybe that's the answer for Karenn.  You probably won't get judged any more here than you would there.  Some people will make it an issue and some people won't.  But that's evidently true in the US as well.

i'll be the first to admit that i'm going on a huge diet before I move there, I don't want people to view me as the typical American, because I'm not.

Okay, they wear UK 16 or so, but they don't care.  

Okay--my mistake, I meant 16 USA, not UK.

As someone else pointed out, fat does depend on your definition of the word.  My best girlfriend is 180 pounds.  She HATES the way she looks, she feels fat, says she's fat and dresses accordingly.  She is misserable.  My other girlfriend is about the same weight (and overall build) but doesn't think she's fat.  She thinks that she is "healthy" and has a bit of meat on her bones.  She dresses very fashionably, sometimes wearing outfits that I would not even dare at 125 lbs.  It's a self-confidence thing.

Personally, I don't know what constitutes "fat".  I dated the greatest man in the world who was almost 400 lbs.  I never thought of him as fat.  However, my cousin's man is about the same size and I look at him as if he is a fat, lazy American.  The difference is that one was very active and ate normal size meals very "properly".  The other sits around the house all day drinking beer and pigging out--in private, in public, he doesn't mind.

I'm sorry, Frances.  Maybe you don't mean it that way, but I'm finding your posts horribly judgemental and not at all on topic with the origional question. 
There are alot of thin women in the world who hate the way they look, think they're fat, are miserable and 'dress accordingly'.  What would you call them?  Obviously not fat?  So, how does this system of judging whether a person is fat work in that case?  Or your ex-boyfriend wasn't fat because he ate what you considered 'properly'.  What about thin people who are lazy and lie around on the couch pigging out?  Not fat?  So what's their label? 
It's just that you're not going by weight at all here-but by a system in your own mind of what is 'good behaviour'. 

Well, I for one would never look at a person and go 'she'd be a bit healthier if she lost a few pounds'.   Nor would I look at a person and go 'she's morbidly obese'.  I personally feel there are better things to judge my fellow women on-such as kindness, and generosity and intelligence. 

I agree. I never said that I would judge someone based on their weight.  I would never decide who would or would not be my friend on the basis of how much they weighed. That is ridiculous. I don't know how you got the impression that I would do that.  I would also never tell anyone that I thought they should lose weight, because I know that would just upset them and make it harder for them to lose weight.  That's a decision they have to make for themselves.



On the other hand, being overweight is a real medical condition.  It increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and I don't know what else.  There are people who are obviously overweight, just as there are people who are obviously underweight.  (I'm sorry, but someone who weighs 400 pounds is overweight. It doesn't mean he's not a nice person, just that he has a medical problem that he should deal with.) Pretending that they are of normal weight is not going to make their health problems go away.

I know for a fact there are members on this board (not myself) who exercise rigorously and eat, 95% of the time, in a healthy manner, but are still 'overweight'.

I for one am considered overweight to obese depending upon what chart you're looking at. But I can do a 7 mile hike with scrambling in the Lake District without keeling over and my blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol are fine.

Karenn's post is a good one, but I think we all need to be very careful in our replies. As Mindy points out, it's about how YOU feel about yourself, not how you REASON your judgements about others.

If you are muscular, the weight charts are inaccurate because muscle is more dense than fat.

Anyway, to get back to the original topic, I personally haven't noticed that people in the UK are any thinner than people in the US. So if you want to diet, do it for your health, not because you want to look "less American", whatever that means.

True, and what about bone structure? I know a person with bones like a birds yet my mother's wrist circumfrence is almost double hers and they are the same height.

I'm very sorry, Mindy.  I certainly did not / do not mean anything offensively.  I guess that my points are that self confidence and over all attitude are more important than weight (not counting "health" issues).  It is my opinion from watching a varriety of people interact in daily life that their wieght is not always a factor in how people treat them, but rather their attitude.

Yes, there are a lot of shallow people out there who will place a steriotype on someone based on their outward appearences.  But that certainly doesn't mean that just because someone is "fat" that they will be treated less kindly than someone else.  On the same note, thin people, pretty people and "ugly" people are not all treated the same.  It is an attitude thing.  

Sadly, because of the "ideals" that western society have placed on people, many people have low self-esteem for a variety of reasons.  

As for the topic, it was asking if we feel that people are judged as "fat Americans".  I do not think that is true, from my own experiences and talking to / watching my friends (American, British and otherwise).  I think that a persons ATTITUDE is what gets them judged, fat, thin, pretty, ugly, active, lazy, shy or loud.  If you have the right attitude, people will like you regardless of physical appearances.   Those who do judge based on looks and nationality are ignorant people, and likey have pretty low self etseem.  


Again, I am very sorry if I offended anyone, because that was certainly not my intent.  

Yeah - I have quite a bit to say on the whole fat issue, but I haven't posted for a bit here 'cause it seemed like the thread was degenerating into what's fat & what's not fat & how fat is fat, how fat are other people, what about clothing sizes, etc -- which mostly doesn't matter to me. I consider myself fat, don't mind that label anymore (though I did at one time) -- rather I look at it as an apt description of myself, much as I might look at a size 4-6 person (?) and say - oh, she is thin -- with no value judgement attached to it. It's my fat & I own it! It's taken a lifetime to build it...  But, in my case, it's not healthy (blood pressure, family history, etc) which is why I've slowly been taking it off, about 2.5 pounds a month - really, really slow. I still have at least 50 pounds and/or up to 70, depending on how I set my goal, but I'm not bothered & it no longer rules my life (the insecurities of it). (I appreciate the supportive comments from those such as balmerhon, Mindy & others. Feel free to drop me an e-mail sometime if you like.)

In my case, I think the perspective of age has helped me come to grips with the issue -- that and learning to like/love myself just as I am. My husband (and the man I dated just prior--who is still my best friend) have both helped me tremendously in this regard. That, and my own 'dark night of the soul' over the last 3 years, when I had to place both my mother (age 78) & grandmother (age 104) in a nursing home -- particularly poignantly in the instance of my mother who has advanced dementia & has become as a child. When you are so closely witness to all the indignities of old age, I have found that it strips away from your mind's concern a lot of what I consider the 'silly stuff' -- like worrying about fat, thin, rich, poor, 'fill in the blank'... Also, I think when one is forced to become the parent of one's parent -- someone you think growing up who will always be there as you have known them, you start looking at yourself & your life a whole lot differently. How stupid I was all those years to let my insecurities over being fat, how other people saw me, and so on -- how stupid I was to limit myself & my experiences because of that! Life is just too short & (I believe) you only get one. You can bet I'm resolved not to spend the next 40 years worrying about all that crap. I guess this is a little off topic, yeah, but again -- it's all about perspective & how you feel about yourself really.

PS - I still can't figure out the clothing size thing over here. In the States (before weight loss), I was wearing about a 26/28. The last time I was home -- I was buying size 22/24 or so. Over here in the UK, depending on the garment, I can wear anything between a 22 and a 26 as well, yet everyone says the sizing here is smaller than in the US -- which would put me between an 18 and 24 in the US now -- but who knows?!?! Hubby likes my bra size though & the lady who fitted me for it over here exclaimed that my husband is a lucky, lucky man...    I wonder if I carry all the weight there?!

Carolyn_B, that is a lovely post and your husband is lucky to have you, the bra fitter was right

Thank you, Maddierose. I am also particularly grateful for the posts on topic made by karenn, belindaloo, balmerhon, Wishstar, Katpaint, & Mindy.

Carolyn B

Carolyn_B, that is a lovely post and your husband is lucky to have you, the bra fitter was right

I agree!!

Carolyn, you just might have lost more then you think.  Sizes here are about 1 to 2 sizes up.  I am a 12 US but here I wear a 14 or 16.

Anyway, to get back to the original topic, I personally haven't noticed that people in the UK are any thinner than people in the US. So if you want to diet, do it for your health, not because you want to look "less American", whatever that means.

I have to agree with you 100% on this.  There are plenty of English women on my High Street who are way bigger than I am.  And plenty who are smaller.

I'm just me.  No one can point me out as "the American" because of my weight, the way I dress, the way I walk or anything else.

And when I open my mouth, I'm usually thought to be Canadian!